Comprehensive Guide to Driving Etiquette

In general, British people are considered to be well-mannered and cultured people but does this statement apply to their driving culture? This frequent image of etiquette pals is a label when it comes to the road too, where the British manners are almost equalised to the etiquette of the Royal family the country is so well-known for. However, with so many Brits behaving quite differently than this reputation on the road, the positive image is about to suffer very soon. This is why today we would like to remind you of some of the basic do’s and don’ts of the road etiquette and how to follow them so you can remain a well-mannered driver and ensure not only your safety but the safety but the safety of everyone else around.

So let’s start discussing the recent lack of good manners on the road and continue with providing you with a comprehensive checklist of the main do’s and don’ts of the driving behaviour! The stats and results concluded by a recent poll conducted by Confused.com found out that despite the fact that 92% of the Brits think that they are well-mannered drivers with a respectful behaviour on the road, the same cannot be said and applied to the way we think of the other drivers on the road. It appears that British drivers a pretty self-confident and individual on the road but also have a sharp eye for the mistakes other drivers around them do. In fact, the results of the poll show that we tend to think that approximately 30% of the motorists are bad-mannered.

To go into even more details here is a more nitty-gritty break down of the results. So what drivers particularly find annoying about the 30% of the motorists they find bad-mannered on the road? The majority of the interviews, the remarkable 27% to be more specific, find that talking on the phone while driving is a very bad and even dangerous habit. 23% of the interviewed drivers find tailgating to be very rude, while 22% think that aggressive behaviour behind the wheel is very annoying and something they would like to see less. So what should be changed? 35% of the interviews would like to see an uptick of drivers indicating at junctions, while 17% do believe that less rubbish thrown out of a car window is a good start of a positive change. 17% would enjoy more cars to be let out at junctions too.

All the results of the poll give pretty much a good idea of which are the main do’s and don’ts of the drivers’ behaviour on the road.

Driving Do’s

According to the drivers who take part in a recent poll conducted by Confused.com, here are the positive examples:

• Use the indicators – Using the indicators properly is one of the highlights for good driving behaviour according to the majority of the interviewed people. The indicators are very important and useful for the pedestrians and other drivers on the road so make sure to use them properly whenever the situation requires it and especially at junctions.

• Obey speed limits – Speed limits are not something that many drivers would like to comply with. In addition, this one is not just a matter of good manners and behaviour but it is most important in terms of everyone’s safety. Of course, speed limits are there for a good reason and not obeying them is not making you cool, neither a VIP driver, it simply makes you look like a fool for putting everyone’s life in danger. Regularly breaking the speed limit means that you do not want to take responsibility for others and your safety, which is just plain bad manners if you ask us. A related issue is driving too slowly and way under the speed limit, which is equally dangerous.

• Be thankful when you are given way – Honestly, is not that hard at all, right? People are giving you way not because they owe you something but because they have good manners behind the wheel so you can make sure to use your manners too!

Driving Don’ts

• Do not throw rubbish out of the car window – This one is not only a sign of really bad manners but also it is irresponsible to nature and damaging to the environment. Do everyone a favour and wait until you find a trash can you can use.

• Do not tailgate – This one is also not simply annoying but can be a real risk for the other drivers and you.

• Do not horn unnecessarily, do not swear and shout – This one is pretty much self-explanatory and you already know why you should not do it and why it is a serious sign of bad manners. Almost all situations can be solved peacefully and without the aggression on the road. So in case you find shouting and swearing for the smallest thing and being easily triggered, try to count to 10 first.

• Do not play too loud music – Once again, playing too loud music in the car is not simply annoying and disrespectful to the others on the road, but also can be dangerous because it decreases your focus on the road. The surrounding 20 cars really do not have to have a taste of your music and we are more than sure that not everyone around will enjoy your taste of music. In addition, even if you are blasting a hit that everyone would sing along to, it is still a subject of bad manners to turn the music down to a healthy level and make sure that only the present in your car is enjoying the tunes.